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Chapter 49

The shockwave from the clash between Shadow of Hydra and Three-Legged Crow’s Flight swept over several kilometers. All the knights surrounding Leonard and Fifth Shadow were blown away, leaving only the two knights on the now-cratered beach.

Leonard lay on the ground and coughed up blood, struggling to move.

“Cough! Cough! Blarghh!”

He couldn’t even muster the strength to lift his body. He barely managed to turn over and vomit out the blackened blood. Fortunately, he did not vomit out any chunks of flesh, an indication that his internal injuries weren’t too severe.

His Five Elements True Dragon Ring was doing its job. When it recognized that its master was in mortal danger, it absorbed natural energy faster than usual and circulated it throughout his body.

In about fifteen minutes—no, in seven minutes, I’ll be able to recover a little.

There was no time to circulate his breathing. He propped himself up against the dirt mound behind him. Having thrown all three of his swords, he was now unarmed.

Just as he was considering whether to pull out a sword from his subspace pouch, he sensed someone approaching with his mana senses. He didn’t need to guess who it was.

“Damn it—”

Before he could finish cursing, a boot emerged from the dust and kicked his face.

Baam!

Leonard was thrown several meters away, and he barely managed to stand on his feet by using the recoil from hitting the ground. His nose seemed to be broken—he couldn’t breathe through it. A warm sensation was spreading through his mouth. Blood was dripping down from his lips and soaking his chin.

Leonard drew a sword from his subspace pouch as he assessed his condition calmly.

I can’t use augmented energy. I’ll die before I form my Innate True Qi.

The Fifth Shadow wasn’t in perfect condition either, but the shadow knight could still decapitate him in a few seconds if he concentrated.

Leonard gazed ahead and focused his eyes. The Fifth Shadow was walking toward him.

“It’s my victory, demon,” the Fifth Shadow said.

His armor was tattered, and blood was dripping down his limbs, painting them red. He had lost vision in one eye, which had likely been crushed by the heat from Leonard’s technique. His disheveled hair and the exposed, torn flesh beneath it made for a grotesque sight. There wasn’t a single place where he wasn’t injured.

Leonard twitched as he scanned the Fifth Shadow.

There are no fatal wounds. Did he have enough energy left to form another augmented energy shield?

In the clash between their ultimate techniques, Shadow of Hydra and Three-Legged Crow’s Flight, Leonard had emerged victorious. When the miniature sun had eventually destroyed the beast, the Fifth Shadow had received the brunt of its remaining power. That beam, which had shot out at an unavoidable speed, should have devoured him, yet he appeared too intact for someone who was directly hit.

The Three-Legged Crow’s Flight was still an augmented qi technique of the highest degree, even though it had collided with Shadow of Hydra and consumed all its energy. It was not an attack that one could withstand with their bare body.

“This isn’t funny at all. This is the first time I’ve lost while using Shadow of Hydra and failed my mission as a shadow. I acknowledge it. This is both a petty victory and a disastrous defeat,” the Fifth Shadow said, his burned lips twisting his face into an even more grotesque expression.

Acknowledging both victory and defeat, the Fifth Shadow once again released a dark green Aura Blade from his sword. Leonard had no internal energy left to use sword energy, leaving him with no options. No matter how excellent his swordsmanship, he would die if he couldn’t use it.

The Fifth Shadow smiled maniacally, confident that Leonard’s life was in his grasp.

“My mission has failed. But if I can kill you, I am confident that it will make up for everything.”

The dark green Aura Blade glowed ominously.

“Die. I will follow shortly, and we will meet again in the netherworld.”

Without answering, Leonard focused on the approaching blade. He refused to give up until the end. Having experienced death once before, he could possibly reincarnate again. If so, the experience and realization gained from this final moment could be invaluable.

If I can narrow the distance by one step, I will be able to take him down with me. If I only manage half a step, I can take an arm.

Calculating even his death as a move, Leonard could strike just before his breath ceased. When he finished his calculation, he leaped towards the Aura Blade. The Fifth Shadow adjusted his blade’s trajectory accordingly. The dark green Aura Blade descended like a guillotine.

“Sorry, but I can’t allow you to kill him like this.”

A voice from afar suddenly pierced through the world slowed by their accelerated perception. Had Leonard and the Fifth Shadow been in perfect condition, they would have reacted. But in their current battered state with almost no internal energy left, it was impossible. Only the shadow knight, who was in slightly better condition, managed to turn his head. That was the limit of his reaction.

Slash!

The Fifth Shadow’s left arm flew into the air along with his sword. The ambusher was someone who had also crossed the wall into the Transcendence Tier. Before the shadow knight could react, the assailant had already approached. A powerful kick sent the Fifth Shadow flying dozens of meters.

Bang!

A few of his ribs cracked, and his lungs were crushed. The shadow knight couldn’t even scream when he crashed into the sand.

“This is for my subordinates,” said Fabian, the Commander of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon. His sword flashed once, severing the shadow knight’s right leg.

Even with keen senses, Leonard had barely seen the swift slash. It quickly became clear why Fabian could sever the Fifth Shadow’s arm and leg from a distance. A thin, long, thread-like Aura Blade was extending from his sword.

Even if both of them were in perfect condition, Fabian would have overwhelmed him, Leonard assessed.

Fabian surpassed the Fifth Shadow in both swordsmanship and understanding augmented energy.

As Leonard observed Fabian, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, dropping his sword. The resolve to fight to the death had kept him standing, but with an ally’s arrival, his strength had left him.

Fabian turned to him with a solemn expression. “I’m sorry. I was too late.”

Though he didn’t know what had happened, the fact that the shadow knights could run amok was because he wasn’t present.

Rather than offering empty consolation, Leonard said honestly, “You weren’t late for me.”

“Yeah, thanks for saying that,” Fabian responded with an even more gloomy face as he realized Leonard’s consideration for him.

On his way here, Fabian had seen the order’s numerous casualties. Though there were circumstances that led to his absence, it was clear to him what responsibilities he should bear.

He said, “Let’s deal with that trash first before continuing our talk. By the way, in the short time since we last met, you seem to have become stronger. I have a lot of questions for you.”

“I would appreciate it if you could just give me a moment to catch my breath.”

“If that’s all you are asking for, I’ll allow it. Rest well.” Fabian nodded as he chuckled at Leonard’s cheekiness.

During their brief conversation, the shadow knight, missing a leg and an arm, suddenly stood up. As he stood there with his fist clenched, his pitiful figure looked both dignified and pathetic.

Fabian looked at the Fifth Shadow. “You are a disgrace of a Knight.”

“...”

“If the great ancestors of the Cardenas family had made one mistake, it was not crushing you bastards completely. You bastards are ingrates who don’t know how to be grateful for our ancestors’ mercy.”

The shadow knight didn’t react to his insult; he only glared at Leonard with darkened eyes. He went berserk, his dark green aura ravaging his entire body. It was the full exertion of Prana, his Innate True Qi.

In an instant, the dark green augmented energy formed parts of his body, seemingly trying to replace his limbs. It then formed an Aura Blade in place of a sword. Regardless of the outcome of this strike, he would die. It was an all-or-nothing attack.

“How pathetic.”

Fabian paid no mind to his bravado. The two Swordmasters locked eyes and moved forward without hesitation.

Dark green energy and platinum energy clashed, their colors starkly different. The clashing of the two Aura Blades caused Fabian’s and the Fifth Shadow’s positions to swap in an instant. It was a silent yet deadly duel of swords.

Splurt!

Just then, from his left collarbone to his right side, the shadow knight was slash apart diagonally, his upper body tumbling next to Leonard. The lower half remained where he had crossed paths with Fabian, grotesquely spraying blood and entrails everywhere. His left arm and right leg, temporarily reconstructed by Innate True Qi, had vanished.

“Weak power, inferior skills, lowly mindset,” Fabian said coldly as he wiped the blood off his sword.

“You’re a century too early to touch me, you remnant of a soon-to-be fallen kingdom.”

The Fifth Shadow’s reaction was strange.

“Urgh... Ugh, ah, uhaha... Hahaha!”

Though one of his lungs had been severed, which made breathing and speaking difficult, the shadow knight laughed loudly. He opened his right hand.

“From... the start! This... was my goal!”

In his palm was a torn Mass Teleport magic scroll given to him as a backup for the mission. Seeing this, Fabian’s face grew grim.

The danger of space magic was already significant, but the overlap of a high-level spell like Mass Teleport was unpredictable and could potentially bring anyone or anything.

Fabian attempted to cut off the shadow knight’s head with a swift slash.

“Mass... Teleport,” the Fifth Shadow said.

Fabian was half a beat too late. Though Fabian had beheaded the Fifth Shadow, he had failed to stop him from speaking.

As the cleanly severed head muttered the final syllable of the incantation, the magic circle on the ground glowed brightly, enveloping Leonard and the shadow knight’s upper body.

The activation of a second magic circle when the first was about to activate generated a bizarre phenomenon, which made it impossible to know the destination. This was the shadow knight’s true aim.

Whooosh!

Fabian tried to leap in, but the spatial ripples repelled him. He could have cut through them with his Aura Blade, but doing so would have endangered those within the spatial ripples.

The spatial vortex lasted only a few seconds before dissipating.

“Damn it.”

Leonard was gone from the island’s shore. Fabian’s face was masked in volcanic fury, and he shut his eyes in anger. Without glancing at the shadow’s severed head, he crushed it with his foot. He walked down the beach with blood and brain matter coating his boots.

There was no time for personal feelings. He had to return to the family’s headquarters to request a continent-wide search, manage the casualties from the Order of the Fledgling Dragon, and write a report on this incident.

“It would be fortunate if he ended up in imperial territory, but if not...” Fabian trailed off, biting his lip hard. “Until the House of Cardenas finds you, stay safe, Leonard.”

The death toll of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon was 72, with 138 seriously injured and 1 missing. Most of the deceased were mid-rank knights who had died fulfilling their duties. All thirty-two members of the Order of the Shadow, including the Transcendence Tier knight, had perished, with few bodies remaining intact.

This marked the end of the fierce battle on Galapagos Island.